Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Busyness

About six months ago I made a commitment to post something on my blog at least once a week. Well folks, judging from the date of my previous post it seems I haven't been that committed. Sure, not a day went by that I didn't think about what I should post. I'm even part of a group of bloggers that take turns choosing topics every week. Blogging is something I enjoy doing. So why the lapse?

Here's an answer: busyness.

Over the past couple of weeks I had some things come up that were out of the ordinary, requiring time to be devoted to making sure they got done.

Turns out that "busyness" is really a nice way of saying that I failed to be disciplined in my time. Don't get me wrong - the things that came up had to be taken care of and were more important than blogging. However, when it comes down to it, my schedule is really not so tight where I couldn't sit down and write something. Writing is something that I enjoy doing and I would like to devote more time to it than I have been.

In all of this, I was reminded of a valuable lesson: There is a difference between being busy and being productive. In a nutshell, "busy" is the getting ready to do something, and "productive" is getting the same something done. For example, when I sit down to write my blog, "busy" is often looking for a suitable picture; "productive" is putting words together to actually say something that is (hopefully) of value (or perhaps something of silliness - who knows?).

So what are some steps I can take to get over the "busyness" and become more productive with my time? Here are a few:

Pray. Seems to me that when I pray for focus on the task I want to complete, I have fewer distractions. God answers even these kinds of prayers.

Make a "to-do" list. Don't overload it with thirty hour-long projects - Just the major things. And prioritize the items. Do the most important things first.

Partner up with someone. Whether it's a study group, an exercise buddy, or (as in my case) a blogging group, having a partner keeps you accountable and strengthens your resolve to follow through to completion.

Don't fall into procrastination and excuses.

So don't just sit there - Stop being busy, and do something productive!